Twilight's Dawn
by Wolfstar32
Summary: Twilight lives in the city under BloodClan's rule, until a crushing event forces her to get away no matter the cost. Meeting four cats who change her life, Twilight is determined to help the cats that suffered under BloodClan. Can one make the difference?
1. Prologue

**My second story! This one will be fully on BloodClan. No regular four Clans or anything. **

**Sorry this chapter is so short; it's mainly just an intro. **

**~ Wolfstar**

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**Prologue**

Twilight crept carefully along the smooth-cut grass at the edge of the park. It was dark out; only the moon provided any light. Her ear twitched; a mouse was foraging near a hedge.

She pulled herself silently forward, keeping low so as to stay hidden. She could see the mouse now, scurrying in among the branches, looking for seeds. Excitement before the pounce spread through her body.

Now as close to her prey as she would be able to reach, Twilight sprang and pounced upon the small brown body. She cut off the terrified squeak with a blow to its neck.

"Nice spring, Twilight."

Twilight turned to see her good friend Sky approaching her with a vole in-between her jaws. Setting it down on the ground, she sat down, her blue-gray fur glowing in the moonlight.

"Thanks, Sky," Twilight mewed, smiling at her. "Back there I've also buried a squirrel and a chipmunk."

"Nice; you've had better luck than me," Sky mewed, looking ruefully at her vole. "I slipped up when I was chasing this, and I very nearly crushed him when I fell on him." She laughed out loud.

"Quiet! Not so loud!" Twilight hissed.

They weren't necessarily breaking BloodClan law. It stated that every cat must fend for itself. They were not sharing any of their prey; they were just hunting together, for fun. However, Twilight was afraid that if Titan found out, it would not end well for either of them.

Sky looked annoyed. "Oh, please!" she growled. "We aren't breaking the law, we're just hunting together."

"I realize that," Twilight sighed. "But you know Titan. He might not give us a chance to explain what we were doing. I don't want to take the risk."

"All right, I see." Sky's mew was softer now. "I'm going to go home now. Let's meet tomorrow at noon up in the old oak tree, here in the park. It's so large and leafy, no one from BloodClan should see us."

"Sure," Twilight purred, and touched noses with her friend before Sky turned, picked up her vole, and bounded off through the trees.

Twilight took a trail through the park, digging up her hidden prey as she went. Her den was in a small hollow tree near the edge of the park, and after eating her fill she curled up inside her nest and fell asleep.


	2. Past and Present

**Chapter 1**

Warm sunlight slanted through the mouth of the den, waking Twilight with its warm touch. Stretching, she went outside and had breakfast. Licking her lips as she finished, she started on her way to the old oak tree.

On her way through one of the trails in the park, she passed some human kits throwing something, and shrieking with delight when they caught it. Twilight shook her head and continued.

As she got into the more wooded area of the park, she passed some other loners. There was Squirrel, Bounce, Crow, Mouse, and Leaf, who also lived in various places around the park.

There were also some city dwellers that visited the park, like Rose or Dragon. Plus Raccoon, whom Twilight thought was charming. She passed them all on her way to the oak, and they exchanged polite conversation, but did not tarry on their separate ways.

About noon Twilight reached the oak. From the scents she could tell that Sky was not yet here. Twilight glanced around casually to make sure no cat was watching her and clawed her way up the rough bark of the trunk, up among the branches.

She climbed until she was sure no cat could see her from below. Perching on a fork in a branch, she waited for Sky in comfort.

The oak was large and had many more branches spreading out above and away from her. It still had plenty of leaves, though leaf-fall was approaching, and all of them were a brilliant gold hue. They shuffled and danced in the wind.

As Twilight waited, she watched the birds twitter around in the tree, and she laughed when she moved and they scattered in a flurry of feathers. They always came back though; she was impressed in spite of herself.

Then Twilight spotted movement near the lower branches. She pretended to be hunting the birds in case it was BloodClan, but then she caught a trace of the blue-gray pelt that let her know it was Sky.

Her friend weaved her way among the branches until she sat next to Twilight.

"I hope you haven't been waiting long," Sky mewed when she had settled herself. "Strike and Adder happened to come by and I had to explain that I was going hunting. They let me go, but they followed me for some time, so I had to prove my story." She shivered, and there was fear in her eyes as she spoke of the two.

Twilight herself shuddered at the BloodClan cats' names. They were two of the most dangerous warriors of BloodClan, besides Titan himself and Whip, his deadly second-in-command.

"Why can't BloodClan leave us alone and let us live our own free lives?" Sky spat suddenly, hatred flooding in her blue eyes. "They have to kick us around and makes us follow their law. What'd we ever do to them?"

"I wish they would leave us alone, too," Twilight mewed. "But we can't very well change it, or escape. Titan posts guards at the limits of the city, and every cat that has tried to escape was restrained or killed."

"Except for Barley," Sky mewed.

Twilight smiled at the long-dead name of the black and white tom that had escaped from BloodClan. His name had been handed down in the city for many years, encouraging kits to be strong.

"We don't know how Barley did it, and if we follow BloodClan law, they leave us alone for the most part," Twilight mewed.

"But I don't _want_ to follow any law. When my mother or father grows weak and old and can't hunt for themselves, they'll starve if I can't hunt for them," Sky snarled, tearing at the bark.

Twilight felt a strong twinge of pain, and anger rose like a cloud. Her mother had died that way. She was too weak to hunt for herself, being old and ill.

Twilight, as a very young cat, had tried to go to Titan himself to ask if she could hunt and care for her mother after she was of age.

She hadn't gotten past the gate of his court. The two guards just sneered at her when she tearfully told them her plea. Needle and Poison were their names, and they led her back home again. Twilight was under twelve moons, which meant she could still live with her mother. She had no siblings.

Twilight had had to watch in horror as Poision dragged her mother out and gave her a severe beating, then left. Twilight had crawled over to her mother and rubbed against her, telling her it would be fine.

Her mother managed to tell her kit that she loved her before she died, and to always try to look after her friends and herself.

Twilight shook her head to rid herself of the memories, and pushed the pain down again. Sky blinked at her sympathetically and turned the subject away from BloodClan.

They talked about many more things such as the hunting, the oncoming leaf-bare, and which toms took were beginning to take their fancy. Then the sun began to set, bringing a night chill to the park.

Twilight climbed down first, and loped away from the tree as casually as she could. After a time, Sky came down. It was their way of not attracting the eyes of any BloodClan supporters.

Twilight ran quickly to her home as the wind grew icier and began to chill her through her fur. It was her first leaf-bare, and she didn't think she liked it.

Twilight crawled into her den, snuggling vainly into her bed of leaves. After an uneasy period of shivering against the cold, she fell into a shallow sleep.


	3. BloodClan

**Chapter 2**

It was two moons after the meeting at the oak. Fat, mouth-watering prey was now just a memory. Leaf-bare had broken out a moon ago, and tonight was the first real blizzard. Twilight struggled against the high snow and biting wind toward her den, with one bony mouse. She had found nothing else, and she was famished.

She finally pushed herself inside her den, cold and numb. She finished her mouse in two bites, which did hardly anything to soothe her stomach.

Twilight miserably huddled in the leaves and tried to sleep. However, her hunger pains and discomfort prevented that.

Suddenly, a loud, "Psst!" made her look up. Outside her den, two blue dots like eyes appeared in the deep snow. Sky?

Twilight pushed herself confusedly to her paws and reluctantly scrambled out into the wind. Stumbling in the snow, she saw that it was in fact Sky, her blue-gray fur ruffled against the wind.

"I've something for you," she mewed, and proudly stepped aside. Twilight's jaw dropped.

Six plump rabbits lay in the snow, no blood about them, all freshly killed.

"I've already had three, I thought you should have the rest. You look half-starved." She modestly licked her chest. "I just kind of stumbled on a rabbit warren."

"What abou…" Twilight couldn't continue because she had her mouth full. She had barely given a thought to the BloodClan law before she had given into temptation.

Twilight had already eaten two before she was able to control herself. Fear seized her immediately. What if someone had seen Sky share prey?

"Sky, go away! If somebody sees us, we – "

Twilight was cut off as Sky interrupted, "I had to help. You might have starved. No offense, but you look horrible."

Twilight had to smile as she dragged the two remaining rabbits to her stash and gave the third to Sky as a thank-you. As Twilight had been eating, the blizzard had worsened, and Sky had to get home before she was snowed out.

Twilight almost offered for Sky to stay at her den, but that would worsen their plight if they were found out. Sky grabbed her rabbit, murmured a quick good-bye, and raced into the snowy night.

Twilight slid into her den and slipped right into her first well-fed sleep in a moon. She gave herself away to dreams as she left consciousness.

Neither Sky nor Twilight saw two cats speed off toward Titan's alley, trouble and greed brewing in their minds.

Twilight was awakened by something sharp slashing her side. She opened her eyes, and BloodClan scent hit her nose.

"Get up!" a black-and-white she-cat hissed. With a shudder, Twilight recognized her as Whip, second-in-command to Titan.

"What did I do?" Twilight whimpered as she stood, though with a sickening feeling she knew what she had done.

"You _know_ what you did, and _we_ know what you did," Whip snarled. "We're taking you to Titan."

Twilight quickly realized that Whip was not alone. Shred, a black tabby tom, and Stab, a black she-cat, were there as well.

Before Twilight could act on her own, Whip sank her teeth into her scruff and dragged her out of her den into the snowy night. Shred and Stab had wolfed down Twilight's two rabbits.

"Destroy her den," Whip growled.

Shred and Stab each gave a nod, and when Twilight let out a cry of protest, Whip struck her. Shred and Stab dragged out the bedding, ripped it apart, and then clawed the inside and out of the trunk.

When the two were done, it looked as if a badger had rampaged inside it, and Twilight had to close her eyes to prevent her from sobbing out loud.

"Follow us," Whip commanded.

Twilight had no choice but to follow the BloodClan cat. Stab and Shred flanked her, and she had to fight herself not to strike the cats who had destroyed her home as she struggled through the deep snow.

They traveled out of the park, across a Thunderpath, and went around two blocks, until they came to the alley where Titan held court. By then they had a procession following them, in which Twilight recognized Dog, Cinder, and Tulip, some of Titan's supporters.

She also recognized Silver, Rust, Trash, Petunia, Cody, and one of her friends named Russet. They all bore frightened and helpless faces, while the three other cats wore looks of supreme earnest.

The cats passed through the heaps of trash on either side of the alley where Arrow, Scratch, and Adder were guarding the gate. They drew aside and nodded to Whip, and then smirked mockingly at Twilight.

Twilight tried to meet their gaze evenly, but failed and looked down in fear. The guards spat at her, then turned back to their post. Twilight happened to look back in time to see Adder spring on Silver, which sent the cats scattering, yowling. The guards let Cinder and Tulip through, but blocked Dog.

Plodding along, Twilight kept her head down in fear. They walked a time, and then entered into the main area of the court, as Twilight suddenly heard sounds of many cats. When she looked up, her heart nearly stopped in jolting horror.

Sky was in the center of the BloodClan cats, her fur matted with blood. BloodClan was laughing at her, jeering at her, throwing trash at her. Sky cowered on the concrete, helpless.

"Sky!" Twilight yowled, running toward her friend. Whip signaled to a gray tom named Fang and he cuffed her on her head, swinging her around and leaving her dazed. Sky cried out in fear.

When Twilight regained her bearings, she saw a dark gray tom with icy blue eyes leap onto a Twoleg couch at the head of the court, his collar of teeth clattering like claws on a Thunderpath.

_Titan,_ Twilight thought, shuddering and crouching lower. With a look to Whip, Titan gave a wordless yowl that silenced all his cats and sent them away from the crouching Sky. Twilight didn't care what happened to herself; she darted forward to her friend. No cat moved.

"It is to my understanding that you two have shared food together," Titan meowed. His voice was shrill, but extraordinarily menacing.

Sky was the first to speak, "Twilight was starving! I had to-"

"Silence, peasant!" Titan snarled. Sky was instantly silent.

"It seems this information that was brought to me is true. Cinder, Tulip, come forward." The two cats, who had been standing beside Whip, padded forward earnestly.

"For a long time now you have desired to join BloodClan. This report has confirmed your loyalty, but you require different names."

Titan raised his head and growled, "Tulip, you shall be called Pierce! Cinder, you shall be called Shroud! Your former selves are dead to you now."

_So these were the cats that told Whip about me and Sky! _Twilight thought bitterly. _All for passage into this rotten Clan! _

Titan turned his attention back to his captives, and a malevolent smile played across his mouth. "The penalty for breaking my law is death."

A cheer arose from BloodClan, shouting, "Titan! Titan!"

"No!" Sky shouted over the fray. "Twilight doesn't deserved to be killed. I am guilty, I shared the prey. Kill me, but spare her!"

Twilight stared at Sky in alarm. What was she doing? Titan's smile flickered, and he cocked his head. Whip leapt up beside him and whispered something to him. He nodded, and let out another yowl.

"You, she-cat, are indeed the one who broke the law. I have chosen the cat that will carry out your sentence. She will gain fighter status in BloodClan when it is complete."

Silence instantly surrounded the cats, and one blue-gray she-cat stepped out from the fray, her eyes cold and expressionless.

Sky shrank back from her, a mixture of grief and disbelief in her eyes. Twilight recognized the cat immediately. It was Sky's sister, Moon.

"Moon?" Sky whimpered, creeping backward.

"That is not my name," Moon whispered coldly. "I am Steele."

"How could you do this to your own sister?" Sky asked, each word dragged from her mouth.

"I am of BloodClan. We kill those who disobey us." With no further words, Steele gave a savage snarl and leaped on her sister, claws out. No move did Sky make; she was frozen in pain.

Twilight was horror-stricken; though she stood less than a foot from them, she couldn't move, couldn't even cry out to her friend.

Sky's eyes met Twilight's for the last time. Then Steele sank her teeth into Sky's neck and gave a sharp twist, and Sky sank to the ground, lifeless, the light in her eyes gone.

Twilight found herself grow dizzy with fury, and her paralysis broke. She lashed out to the cat nearest to her, which happened to be Strike. She had shredded an ear before two cats sprang forward and held her down.

"Take her away," Titan commanded. The two dragged Twilight out of the alley and the gate, and threw her onto a sidewalk. Twilight struggled to stand, but flopped down again.

She was frightened when Steele came out after her, but also enraged. She tried to swipe at this traitorous cat who had killed her friend, but was too drained to stand.

Then came a great shock; Steele's blue eyes. They held the tiniest shred of sorrow. She leaned down and whispered into Twilight's ear, "Leave this place."

Steele turned and vanished back into the alley as the black she-cat fell into unconsciousness.


	4. Freedom

**Chapter 3**

Dawn was breaking by the time Twilight came to. Immediately last night's events came crashing down on her like boulders; Sky dead, her home destroyed, BloodClan.

Twilight let out a dry sob. Her grief was almost unbearable, the city itself seemed different. Her friend, dead, gone, just like that.

In a split second she made her decision. She was leaving the city, she could not stay here, there were too many bad memories. Even death would be better than this. At least she would be with Sky, wherever she was now.

She ran; there was nothing else to do but run. Her only goal was to put as much distance between Titan and BloodClan as she could. Past her old den in the park, past buildings and startled humans, across a small Thunderpath surrounded by human nests, until finally she came to the outer limits.

Twilight slowed to a walk, her breath coming in heavy ragged gasps and rising in clouds. She could just see the BloodClan sentry ahead; it was Needle, a gray tabby tom with jagged stripes and two thin fangs. Luckily, she had only ever heard of him; he had never seen her. She had been formulating her plan as she ran, and was sure it would work.

She stepped out from behind the snow covered bushes. Immediately Needle spun around and unsheathed his claws.

"Under Titan's command you go no further!" he spat at her, showing his lethal fangs.

Twilight narrowed her eyes as if in contempt, while underneath she was shaking with fear. "I am here under Titan's command. He needs you and I am to fill your post while you are gone."

Needle blinked in shock, but recovered quickly and snarled, "I've never seen you before. What's your name?"

"Scrape," Twilight said hastily, hoping no other cat was named that. Needle seemed convinced.

His next words made Twilight's blood run cold. "Under Titan's code, you need to answer a personal question about BloodClan for me to make sure you are telling the truth."

"Go ahead," Twilight gulped, fighting to keep her voice calm. Everything seemed to press in on her, the leaves of the trees, the boulders near them, and even the sky and air. Twilight was finding it hard to breathe.

"Name a disciple of Whip."

Twilight almost fainted with relief. No cat other than BloodClan knew the names of the disciples, for they were kept under constant surveillance and were never revealed until they gained fighter status. But she did know one of them.

"Steele," she answered. Needle nodded once, let her take his position, and sped off toward the city.

Twilight did a quick go-around to make sure no other cat was in sight, then sped off toward the trees and fields.

She did not care where she ended up, she just needed to find a place where BloodClan couldn't find her. After passing a secluded area of skeletal oak trees, she came to a huge Thunderpath.

So many snarling monsters raced by on it all she could see was a blur of color. Twilight quickly decided she was not going to cross it, distanced herself a fair bit away, and begin to walk level with it.

She came across a very big human nest with many monsters crouched by it; she had to cross a small Thunderpath to get by. On her way, she passed what might have been a large ravine at one time.

She stopped without meaning to do so. The ravine had a small creek of water in it because a large metal pipe emerging from the human nest had been dripping water into it. Other than that there was just brown earth, a rotting tree trunk, and a few large rocks.

_There's nothing special here_, Twilight thought, and forced herself to keep walking. But something magnetic kept urging her to go there; as if some powerful and majestic something had once been here, only to disappear. Twilight walked on, and the feeling decreased.

When it was the evening and Twilight had walked so much that her paw pads were cracked and raw, many of these feelings had occurred. One had been in a deep hollow near the Thunderpath, where four trees might have stood once because of the position of the ground at the four corners. Another had been a little while back on the moorland that Twilight was still on; it had been a shallow dip in the ground, nothing special.

Twilight momentarily stopped because she knew she had to find a place to spend the night, surely no BloodClanners would follow her this far. Then her mouth dropped in dismay; the Thunderpath curved over to meet another Thunderpath as large as it was on the other side.

As quickly as Twilight had been disappointed, her heart gave a great leap. Just beyond the curve in the Thunderpath was a farm, with a large barn and no other animals about. Surely there would be mice and nice, soft hay to sleep in.

In excitement she dashed forward, covering the short distance in less than five minutes. When she reached it, she concluded that monsters and their humans must be afraid of the dark, for there were not many on the Thunderpath. In no time at all she had gotten into the middle without having a monster get nearer than five fox-lengths. She crossed the other side just as easily and headed toward the farm.

As soon as she left the Thunderpath she realized she had viewed the farm from a hill; there was a great field of dead cornstalks between she and it. Twilight memorized where the farm was, then made a beeline through the field toward it.

The leaves were rough, and soon she was very hot and the scratchy leaves had torn some fur from her pelt. She rolled in some melted snow to relieve the irritating scratches. Twilight began to think the whole world was cornstalks, nothing else was existent.

Then there was more light visible than before, and then the cornstalks opened up to reveal an open dirt clearing, with a light red barn with stone at its base in the center. And just in time too, because the sun was beginning to go down.

"I've never been so pleased to see something human-made," Twilight said to no one as she dashed toward it, relief piling on top of her like waves. After the tough leaves in the field, the dirt ground was like a cushion to her paws.

Inside the barn, there was many bales of hay; dry, yellow and soft-looking. Twilight stumbled into a pile, arranged it into a nest, curled up inside it, and almost immediately fell asleep.

She barely registered the fact that she had escaped BloodClan, nor realized that a pair of eyes were now looking down at her from the opposite side of the barn, curiosity brimming in their green depths…


	5. Raven

**Chapter 4**

Some time later when Twilight awoke, it was nearly the evening of the next day, and the first thing she noticed was a pile of fresh-kill beside her, consisting of five fat mice and a rabbit.

Twilight had not eaten on her journey there, and the rabbits that Sky had brought her seemed very far away. She barely registered from where they had came before she was eating them as fast as she could. Each was warm and juicy, as if it wasn't the cold season of leaf-bare.

When she had finished three mice, and was feeling full-fed for the first time in a while, she began to wash herself. But she froze as a friendly mew sounded from across and above her. "Glad you enjoyed them!"

One paw still held up to lick, Twilight watched as a young tom as black as her and about the same age jumped down from the hayloft, his emerald green eyes sparkling, and his tail flicking in friendly greeting.

"I saw you come in last night and you looked hungry, so I caught some prey for you. What's your name?" The black tom looked at her expectantly, and Twilight did a quick once-over. He seemed friendly enough, he wasn't going to hurt her.

"Twilight," she said, brushing a paw over her ears and twitching her tail self-consciously. The black tom smiled at her, and mewed, "It fits. You have a beautiful black pelt to go with it."

Twilight felt her skin flush hot under her pelt, and to escape embarrassment she asked, "What is yours?"

"Raven," he said proudly, straightening himself.

"Your fur does look like the glossy feathers of a raven," Twilight told him, hoping she didn't sound ridiculous. Raven looked delighted.

"I was named after my grandfather, Ravenpaw. He died before I was born."

"Who was he?" Twilight asked, feeling another of her magnetic pulls when she heard the name.

Before Raven could answer, a husky voice answered, "I could probably tell you that better than my son could." Twilight turned to see a rather large old dark gray tom coming down from the hayloft with two nice-looking white she-cats coming down after him.

"I'm Great Gray, Ravenpaw's son," he told her as he came up. "These are my two daughters, Snow and Cloud, and that's my son, Raven."

The massive tom sat down in the hay, and he gestured for his two daughters to sit down with him. Snow hung back, and mewed, "I can get some fresh-kill for us to share tomorrow, father."

Twilight had the words almost out of her mouth that that was against the law, but then she remembered. She had left BloodClan. They couldn't hurt her now.

"Well," Great Gray said thoughtfully, flicking his tail as Snow left. "I guess I should start out with the four Clans of the forest that once lived here."

Twilight gave an involuntary twitch; _Clans?_ Had there been more cruel Clans like BloodClan who lived here?

"There was ThunderClan, RiverClan, WindClan, and, oh, yes, ShadowClan. There were different positions they all had, in order to do what was best for the Clan. There was a leader, who led and spoke for all the cats. A deputy, the second-in-command, who helped assign daily duties, and would follow the leader after he rested. A medicine cat, who interpreted signs from the warrior ancestors in StarClan, and healed cats with herbs. The warriors, and the warriors in training, who were known as apprentices. The queens were she-cats with kit, who dwelt in the nursery and returned to warrior duties when their kits were of age. And the elders, who were honored above all and cared for because of the past service to their Clan. The warriors made up the core, hunting for and defending their Clan from other Clans."

Twilight blinked. They sounded absolutely nothing like BloodClan.

"Now, my father, Ravenpaw, left ThunderClan from whence he was born at the time he was an apprentice, which is why his name ends in 'paw'. He fled because his mentor Tigerclaw wanted to kill him to keep him quiet about a deadly secret. Tigerclaw had murdered his own deputy, in attempts to become deputy himself. Ravenpaw's two friends, Firestar, then Firepaw, and Graystripe, then Graypaw, helped him escape to this very farm, where he lived with Barley."

"Barley?" Twilight asked, excitement sparking in her. "Was he a black and white tom?"

"Yes, in fact he was," Great Gray mewed, surprised. "He had died before I was born, but Ravenpaw said many things about him."

Cloud smiled at Twilight, saying, "I heard from father that Barley had done great things in his lifetime."

Twilight nodded. Great Gray hadn't been lying; Barley had done and accomplished many great things.

"Shall we get on with the story?" Great Gray asked her. Twilight nodded eagerly, wanting to hear more about these Clans who sounded more fair and organized than BloodClan was, and about this Ravenpaw.

"Where was I?" the dark gray tom asked himself. "Oh yes, my father went to live with Barley.

"Well, he never forgot about ThunderClan, and his friends Fireheart and Graystripe sometimes visited the farm for information about their traitorous deputy Tigerclaw, and to stay there after the Clan cats visited the Moonstone, where they consulted with StarClan."

Twilight was entranced. In BloodClan, an afterlife was not believed in, and this was mystifying her. It sounded so real. Maybe there actually was a StarClan.

"Yes, there really is a StarClan," Great Gray mewed, as if he could read her thoughts. "Ravenpaw's friend Firestar – his name after he became leader – had dreams from them even when he was an apprentice.

"Continuing, when Twolegs came to build a new Thunderpath on Clan territory, the Clans had to move to find a new home. My father said he would miss them, but he really was more comfortable living with Barley at the farm.

"Some time after that a she-cat named Wild Ivy came around to the farm. She was a beautiful white she-cat with green eyes, a little younger than Ravenpaw at the time. Well, Barley didn't get on too well with her, but Ravenpaw and Wild Ivy immediately got in love. Barley could soon tolerate her presence, but it was always Ravenpaw and Wild Ivy with the close bond. About that time Graystripe and his new mate Millie arrived to get direction to where the Clans had gone. He'd been separated when he was captured by Twolegs during the forest's destruction. So they went on their way, and not long after that, Wild Ivy became pregnant and I was born."

Cloud cut in. "I bet you were so _cute_," she teased. Their father pretended to be offended and placed a paw on his chest while looking shocked. Raven and Cloud laughed, and even Twilight found some humor and smiled.

"Anyway, as I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted," he shot a mock-glare at his daughter, "I was the only kit in the litter. Now about the time I was around six moons, Ravenpaw was very old, and eventually he died, along with Barley. Mother was heart-broken, and she passed away about four moons after her mate did. I was left to fend on my own. Luckily, Ravenpaw had taught me all about Clan tradition, so he asked Wild Ivy to teach me to hunt and fight as soon as I reached six moons. So I managed fairly well.

"After about two moons of being by myself on their farm, a stray cat who'd been abandoned by her humans almost at the age of a kit wandered by. A tortoiseshell, blue eyes, and pink nose. Name was Patch. Of course I told her all about what Ravenpaw had told me; of the lost Clans and the way they lived. Well, we started liking each other and soon she was pregnant. Then came three mewing furballs, always noisy, crying for milk all the time, a real pain in the – "

"Just get on with it," Raven mewed irritably, cuffing his father affectionately on the side of his head.

"All right. We were astounded to find that though both our she-kits were white, the one tom kit was black, he must have inherited it straight from Ravenpaw. And of course, after all she'd heard about him, Patch wanted to name him after my father. So we called him Raven, and the other two Cloud and Snow. He kind of looked like you here, young feller."

"Shut up," Raven snapped. Cloud giggled at her brother.

"Unfortunately my kits didn't know their mother long; Patch was always a wanderer and couldn't bear to be kept in one place. I didn't have the heart to beg with her to stay. As soon as our kits were weaned of her milk, she left us. We haven't seen her since."

Great Gray sighed softly; Cloud and Raven looked sad, but not resentful of their mother.

The pure black she-cat had found the whole story intriguing. Despite the tale of Patch, all she could think of was the Clans. She definitely had an urge to find out more about them. It sounded as if BloodClan could be a mere group of cats who lived for no reason compared to them. How she would love and how better it would be for the cats in the city, if BloodClan could be more like… what was it? ThunderClan? But she knew that was impossible.

Titan and his guard and any other cat who wanted war would have to be driven away or killed, and any cat who was sane knew that was like trying to be friends with a dog who wished to eat you.

And yet the idea stuck in her head. All the cats caring for each other, living together in harmony, hunting for each other, teaching young how to survive, sharing with friends, caring for elderly cats…

"It's not _impossible,"_ Twilight mewed to herself. But BloodClan was still too close, Sky's death too vivid still… Twilight would not go back. The cats there would have to fend for themselves until something happened to change the way things were.

When would it happen? Looking at the smiling face of Raven, she wished all cats could have what she had found; cats who lived together in mutual cooperation and love.

Great Gray rose to his paws. "Our nests are in the hayloft," he mewed, pointing with his tail. "You may join us there, or you may stay down here."

"I will stay down here until I am comfortable sleeping around other cats," Twilight answered. Memories of BloodClan surged like a cloud around her. She was too used to sleeping alone.

The giant gray tom-cat dipped his head in assent. "It is your choice." He shook himself and padded towards the hayloft, his daughter behind him, her snow-white pelt gleaming as the sun shone in from the doorway.

But Raven stayed behind, and snuggled down into the hay next to Twilight, not touching her, but not too far away either.

Twilight felt warmed with a curious feeling, and snuggled herself down into the hay, her stomach comfortably full, and soon she was asleep next to the glossy black tom.


	6. Interlude

**Interlude**

Twilight grew to love the little family. It was not long after that first night, with Raven's help, that she began sleeping with them up in the hayloft.

Great Gray was an expert story teller, and every night he would tell of something in his life or of something from the forest Clan that had been told to him by Ravenpaw. It was mainly their Clan lore, or tales of what Ravenpaw's friends Firestar and Graystripe got up to. Twilight had no preference, for she enjoyed them all.

Over the course of two moons she let BloodClan and its miseries slide to the back of her mind. She hunted with Raven and his sisters, but mainly with Raven, always maintaining a special warm feeling when they were together. Cloud and Snow were exceptional hunters, rarely missing anything, because of the way their pelts blended into the snow. It made them near invisible.

Even Sky was only a dull memory amongst all her new friends. Of course she occasionally thought of her, and grew sad, but Raven was always there to cheer her up and distract her. Once in a while she would have nightmares of that terrible night where Sky's own sister had killed her, sinking her fangs into her throat unmercifully.

The nightmares were always hurried away with the bustle of hunting and playing in the day, and Twilight would only have flashes of what she had witnessed.

She fell into the daily routine of the day, sharing tongues with Snow and Cloud, hunting with Raven, napping in the warm hay, and scuffling playfully in the snow when it fell. The large sheltering barn always held plenty of mice and rats to eat, and Twilight never fell hungry.

Soon newleaf was casting its healing rays over the land. The snow melted, birds twittered their sweet song to the blue forget-me-not skies, flowers started to tunnel through the ground, and the trees started to bud. Twilight felt as far away from BloodClan as she possibly could have.

However, everything changes with time.


	7. Spring

**Chapter 5**

Cloud crept forward like a breath of wind along the rejuvenating field, stalking an oblivious rabbit nibbling a new season dandelion. Twilight and Raven quietly watched her a little ways off.

The black she-cat watched as Cloud leapt forward in a blur and took the rabbit with silent grace. It never even had a chance to squeal, as it had been so intent on its tasty treat.

The white-furred she-cat dragged the rabbit up to them, letting it fall on the ground in front of them with a soft thump. "Here's lunch," she mewed cheerfully. "We can catch something for father after we've eaten."

Twilight's mouth watered as the scent of the freshly-killed prey filled her nose. She dug in eagerly beside Raven, brushing close to him as she ate. This was the first good sized piece of prey that they had had since leaf-bare.

Between the three of them, to Twilight's regret, they finished rather quickly. Licking her lips to keep the flavor, she leapt to the top of a small knoll, as Snow had told her earlier in the season, to scent for more prey and survey their position.

Behind them was the barn, it towered over the small clump of bushes that marked the start of the moorland. Off to her left she could see the Thunderpath in the distance, behind some trees and hedges. It was audible from here, but there was no harsh exhaust or oil smell that the human monsters excreted.

Stretching out in front of her was the moorland, where there was a gathering of small human nests in the distance near the large Thunder-path. Other than that, yellow stalks of grass were everywhere, with the occasional vervain flower, dandelion, and celandine dotting the landscape with specks of color.

Twilight did not remember ever seeing anything so beautiful as that scene. She breathed in the fresh air, with the slight perfume of the small flower mixed in every so often and murmured to herself, "This is where I want to be."

"Newleaf never ceases to amaze me, either," Raven's voice came from behind her. Twilight jumped slightly, then turned to face him.

The glossy black tom had a bashful look in his emerald eyes, and he swept his tail back and forth as he held up his right paw.

The black she-cat suppressed a giggle of delight and settled for a look of adoration when she saw what he held. It was a little blue chicory flower; one rarely was found that was this shade, normally they were white or lavender.

Coughing, Raven mewed shyly, "I, ahm, thought you'd like this. First of the season, ahm, I think. It matches your eyes."

The last sentence came out in a rush, and Twilight could sense the sudden flush of warmth under his fur. Reaching forward, she plucked the flower gently from his paw with her teeth and placed it twixt her toes on her right paw.

"It's beautiful. Thank you," she purred, nuzzling him under the chin. He in return purred, a deep soothing rumble that filled the silent air around them.

"_If _you're not too busy," a voice commented dryly as Cloud's white head popped up next to them. "I was scenting around, and there's an unfamiliar cat somewhere in this area, probably just over that ridge."

Instantly the reverie going on in Twilight's head vanished, and she and Raven jumped off the knoll to trot across to where the small slope, studded with small heather and gorse shrubbery, lay on the horizon line. It was far out of the range they normally hunted.

Padding swiftly over the soft moor grass, they soon reached the small ridge and with some difficulty got through the thick foliage.

Twilight saw that the gathering of human nests was much closer now, and it looked bigger, too. She could see little ones a fair distance away, playing behind a white fence that separated their nests from the moor.

The scent of the cat grew stronger, as did something near Twilight's heart. The black she-cat instantly recognized the magnetic pull, and further remembered this clearing was one of the places she'd passed when fleeing from BloodClan.

A small seed of anxiety and fear grew within her as she, Raven, and Cloud continued down the slope, though she didn't know why. Then she tasted the air again.

The cat-scent was vaguely familiar…

She froze in horror, not even noticing her companions turning to look at her. That cat, whoever it was, smelled of the city, of Twolegs and their monsters…and a taint of BloodClan scent!

Her memories ripped through her again, each as painful as she remembered when experiencing them. Again she heard Whip's order to destroy her den, her mother whispering that she loved her as she bled out her life, the look in Sky's eyes as she died to save her friend under the claws of her sister. Titan…. Titan…

"No! No, I don't want to go any farther!" she cried as Raven gentle nudged her. He stumbled backward, hurt and confusion evident in his eyes.

Cloud was not such intimidated. "Twilight, you're being silly," she meowed as patiently as she could. The black she-cat heard her but did not comply, her memories still tearing at her mind at the scent of Titan's cats.

"We'll be with you; it'll be all right," Cloud soothed as she nudged her toward the right direction. As reluctantly as was possible Twilight went with them, ready to leap back at a moment's notice if the cat was anyone out of her painful past.

A small den at the base of a tall rock came into view as the two siblings led Twilight through the clearing toward the scent. They reached it in little time.

Closer now, Twilight could smell the lingering scent of misery. Cats excreted their emotions when they were in great trauma. Also, it was obvious the cat – a she-cat they now could tell – was in some physical pain, too. Even warier, she stayed back from the den.

Cloud glanced at her, then called into the den. "If you can hear us, we mean you no harm. Do you need any help?"

There was no reply, but two seconds later there was some commotion in the den, and the she-cat limped out, raising her hazel eyes to meet theirs.

Twilight looked at her, and there was sudden internal conflict in her mind that lasted only a second. Disbelief and shock fogged her mind immediately.

Raising her dark ginger tail in recognition, the ginger she-cat's hazel eyes brightened as if the sun had illuminated them from the inside. She tried to speak, but a cough rasped out instead and she swayed on her paws.

Twilight gave voice to the name that had throbbed through her mind only a short while ago. One she used to know well.

"Russet?"


	8. An Old Friend

**Chapter 6**

"Twilight, is that… really you?" Russet rasped out, finally collapsing to the ground. To Twilight she looked starved, even though leaf-bare was over. In her prostrate form Twilight could also see a gash on her leg, which was crusted and ugly with dried blood.

Crouching beside her, the black she-cat mewed as comfortingly as she could while her memories still thickened her mind, "Yes, it's me, Russet. It's okay, you're safe now."

The ginger she-cat's eyes rolled and she started muttering incoherently, "My kits… Smudge… gone, all gone… Titan… oh." Her head lolled and dropped on the ground, her eyes closing.

"Russet? Russet!" Twilight cried, nudging her old friend. The ginger she-cat had never been as close as she and Sky had, but they had still been friends. She had been forgotten in the trauma after Sky's death.

Cloud moved forward and placed a paw on Russet's foreleg, her eyes narrowed in concentration. Then she moved it away and mewed, "It's all right, she's just knocked out."

"We've got to get her back to the barn," Raven put in. Twilight nearly jumped when he spoke from beside her; she had almost forgotten he was there.

However, she didn't want to move Russet. She was already wounded, and starved to the point of her ribs showing through her pelt. Not to mention she was delirious.

"No," she mewed, moving forward to peer into the den that Russet had taken shelter in. It was big enough to hold maybe three cats, or four if pressed. "She can stay here, and I'll stay with her. If you could hunt some prey while I gather some bedding material, we can move her in there before it gets dark."

"That's actually a pretty good idea," Cloud meowed, flicking her white tail. "Come on, Raven. We can hunt and then go back and tell father what's going on."

The black tom, Twilight could see clearly, did not want to leave her. All he said was, "Okay, let's go." He followed his sister at a leisurely trot, and soon they were out of the hollow.

There was no moss about on the moorland, and Twilight did not have time to go to the small dammed-up pond where they normally got their moss. Instead, she set about nipping off stalks of heather, until she had enough for two nests. Carefully moving past Russet, she arranged them until she had two sufficient beds.

Painstakingly careful, Twilight dragged her friend inside and onto one of the nests. She arranged the bedding around her until she looked comfortable, then turned her back and stepped outside.

The sun would set soon, and the sky had turned dark with pink and golden streaks on the western horizon. A cool breeze blew over the moor, weaving quietly around on its inevitable path.

It was not long before Raven and Cloud returned, along with their sister, Snow. Raven held a bundle of soaking wet moss gingerly in his teeth, Cloud held two fairly large rabbits in her mouth, and Snow carried some pungent smelling leaves along with cobwebs on her paw.

Summoning up all her cheeriness, Twilight managed to sound convincing as she congratulated them, "Wow, you guys outdid yourselves."

Raven set down his load of wet moss and grinned lopsidedly. "What, this? This is just the regular." His mew was friendly, but Twilight detected a note of wariness in it. She suspected regretfully because he was afraid she would shout at him again.

Putting as much warmth in as she could muster, Twilight mewed, "Of course, I forgot." Turning to Snow, she pointed at the pile of leaves with her tail. "What are those for?"

"They're marigold leaves," the white she-cat answered, holding one up for her inspection. "Father says they'll help prevent infection, and heal any current one."

"You thought of everything," Twilight mewed admiringly. Chancing a look at the sky, she mewed, "If you know how to apply those, Snow, go ahead. Russet's still passed out, so she won't need to eat yet."

She stepped aside to let her friend pass, then sat down to give herself a wash and to reflect now that she had nothing to do.

How had Russet got out of BloodClan? She supposedly could have used the same trick Twilight had used, but the ginger she-cat knew nothing personal about them, and Titan had been bound to tighten security since her own escape.

And why was she in such a bad condition? Not so much physically, but mentally she was in a horrible state.

"Twilight?" Raven's voice cut in on her thoughts. He and his sister were staring at her skeptically. "Are you okay?"

"Yes, I'm fine," the black she-cat mewed back automatically. _Right,_ she thought cynically. She'd just had memories of her past flung in her face like a wave of ice water, and one of her old friends was close to shut-down mode, as she had been at the night of Sky's death.

"Hey, I was wondering…" Raven asked hesitantly. "While I was out getting water and everything, I remembered what, what's-her-name, Russet, said before she passed out. And, I was wondering if you knew who Titan was."

"That's none of your concern!" Twilight snapped the words before she even thought them, and was rewarded with an incredibly hurt Raven. He'd drawn back slightly, and he looked injured.

Cloud's expression had not changed, but Twilight could tell she was thinking furiously inside and was puzzling as to why Twilight was acting out of character.

Sighing, Twilight moved over to Raven and nuzzled him hesitantly. She sensed some of his tension fade away, and she mewed, "I'm sorry, Raven, it's not your fault I'm like this, and I'm sorry I snapped at you. Both times."

Taking a deep breath, she spoke doggedly, "Titan is someone… from out of my past. He's a… horrible cat… who has others to serve him, and… and he makes living in the city a living nightmare."

"I can see why you don't want him mentioned," Raven mewed in a troubled voice. "I'm sorry I brought it up."

"No one can normally resist curiosity," Twilight meowed, brushing his glossy black pelt with her tail. "You didn't know I had something to do with that… that creature. And I _will _tell you about him, someday, when I can speak without reliving my memories so vividly."

"No problem," Raven spoke soothingly, drawing her forward into a hug, where theirs head were on each other's shoulders and they were very close. "I can wait," he almost whispered.

"You know, I am still here," Cloud remarked wryly from where she was sitting with her prey. "And Snow's done with the healing."

Twilight reluctantly pulled away from Raven's embrace and turned to see that, sure enough, the white she-cat was done and sitting near her sister, an amused smile on her face mixing with relief from her eyes. "If you aren't too otherwise occupied, Twilight, Russet's awake now, and her wound is as fixed up as it'll get."

Her lulled feelings instantly vanishing, the black she-cat mewed hurriedly, "I'll see you three in the morning, then. Here, Raven, take care of my flower for me." She placed her little chicory flower in the black tom's paw.

Smiling at her, he purred softly, "I will, Twilight."


	9. Russet's Story

**Chapter 7**

After bidding her three friends good-bye, Twilight watched them turn and run towards home in the gathering darkness. The white pelts of Cloud and Snow, and the glossed black pelt of Raven. Raven, her Raven, her friend…

Shaking her head while scolding herself, the black she-cat picked up the wet moss and the larger of the two rabbits. There was no time to get caught up in dumb romantic moments. Even if they did get her time to be mesmerized by his glowing green eyes…

_Stop it! _she snarled to herself, turning around and heading into the small den.

All thoughts of the black tom or avoiding thinking about him vanished when she again smelled the faint scent of BloodClan. Her memories were less torturous than they had been before, but still just as painful to remember.

Russet was lying in her nest, with her injured back leg swathed in cobwebs and marigold paste. Her amber eyes were calmer now, and she looked better even in that short time.

"Feeling better?" Twilight asked as she set the moss and rabbit down.

"Yes," the ginger she-cat answered quietly, stretching her head out to lick the drops of moisture that had beaded on the moss. When she was satisfied, she pulled the rabbit towards her with one paw and ate while trying not to seem ravenous.

Twilight retrieved her own rabbit from outside and ate it with some relish, too anxious to really enjoy it even though she had not eaten since noon. She was finished soon, and took the fur and bones, as well as Russet's, outside and buried them.

Coming in, she curled up on her nest and gave herself a semi-conscious wash. Between her memories on BloodClan and wondering if she should bring it up with Russet, she had a lot to think about.

However, she did not have to ponder long. Russet's dark ginger tail snaked around her foreleg, and she murmured softly, "Twilight, I'm so glad I found you. And I wanted to tell you that your escape gave me courage for my own, after… after it happened."

"What did – oh, sorry, you probably don't want to talk about it," Twilight mewed, staring through the darkness to Russet's amber eyes.

To her surprise, Russet whispered, almost inaudibly, "On the contrary, I want to tell you and get it off my chest, so someone else can share the burden with me." She paused and added almost reluctantly, "I will not tell you if you don't want me to. I understand you have enough memories to last you."

"You're my friend, Russet, and I will gladly let you share this with me. One more memory can't hurt me," Twilight purred, trying not to let the words stick in her throat. The first comment was as true as the grass was green, but Twilight was unsure about the second.

"Thank you, Twilight, my old friend," Russet mewed gratefully. "I'm sorry that you're going to hear this."

"Go ahead, Russet," the black she-cat meowed, settling herself bracingly in her nest, ready for whatever Russet would recite. She hoped she was in any case.

This is the story the ginger she-cat related to Twilight in her own words, with no interruptions:

"I don't know if you knew, but I was pregnant with kits at the time of your, ahm, punishment for sharing prey. My mate was Smudge, you remember Smudge, he was that white tom with

the black nose? Yes, well, maybe a moon after your escape I gave birth to three kits. But they were born small and weak, very delicate, since I had been starving at the point of their birth

because of the harsh season. I knew with gentle nurturing and time they would be all right; it was just a mother's instinct. Anyway, about two days after their birth, one of Titan's patrols,

Jag and Adder, it was, poked their heads into our living area, which was just a small human storage alley. My nest was just a cardboard box. They snidely congratulated me on my kits,

then waltzed off looking very pleased with themselves. Maybe a moon later, Titan himself came to the alley, with Smudge and two of his cats, Arrow and Ice, I believe. Smudge had been

hunting; he moved protectively to my side as soon as they entered the alley. Titan said to me, "Well, well, well, Russet, isn't it? You're a young mother, aren't you?" Not wanting to be rude

in front of that dangerous cat, I replied, "Yes, Titan, this is my first litter." My heart nearly stopped when he extended one of his dog tooth claws, but he merely stroked one of my kit's

backs with the side of it. Smudge had instinctively moved forward to protect them, and Titan purred with an edge of amusement, "Calm yourself, Smudge, I won't hurt them." Then his eyes

took on a malignant glint as he turned back to me. "However, Russet, you must see that your kits are too small and weak to do anything. They will not live through the season, you must

see that. It would only put more effort and strain on you and your mate. You might as well dispose of them now." My mind was reeling in shock and fear that he would suddenly be

murdering my kits in front of me, and I wrapped my tail more snugly around my babies. I was momentarily eased as he moved to the side of my nest, away from the kits and near my head.

Then my blood froze as he purred, "Kill them now, Smudge." My mate might as well have been asked to pick a mouse out of thin air. He just stood there, flaming hatred and iced fear

mixing in his eyes as his suddenly tightened voice strangled out, "I will gladly put in as much effort as need be for my kits, Titan. Even at the cost of my own prey." Contemptuously, Titan

answered, "These kits are so weak that you'll be caring for them beyond twelve moons, and that would be breaking the law. I don't want to have to punish you in that near future." I

knew he couldn't care less; he just wanted to watch us be tortured on the inside if we were forced to do what he suggested. "They will be able to hunt on their own at the age of twelve

moons," Smudge insisted desperately, his eyes horribly distressed. "Kill them," Titan mewed quietly. There was a whisper, and there was suddenly a sharp jab on my throat, with an

added comment, "Or I kill your mate _and _your kits." I watched through anguished eyes as Arrow and Ice took up positions beside Titan, in case Smudge would try to attack him and protect

me. My mate was in anguish, I could tell, and so was I. But I knew he would take the choice that would come with less death. As he moved forward to take them, he choked out to me, "I'm

so sorry, Russet." I gave him a microscopic nod; with a talon at my throat I could do little else. I squeezed my eyes shut as he moved away with my babies, who were crying at the sudden

cold. I was feeling as if my spirit was being torn apart by unseen claws, with the hopelessness enhancing the pain. There were three muffled thuds, and when I opened my eyes Smudge

was sitting on the ground with our dead kits in front of him, his eyes on the ground, shaking with grief. I do not remember what Titan's parting words were to me, but he and his two

others took my kits' bodies and left me and my mate there. I had no comforting words to Smudge, nor he to me. But he said one thing to me when sunset came around on that day. He

said, with his eyes burning with vengeance and misery, "I'm getting you out of here." He helped me up and I let him lead me away from my den. He took me out of the city, past the park,

until we reached the outer limits. We approached silently, there were some pine trees there, and we saw the guard. Smudge told me, "I love you, Russet. See if you can find Twilight, she

escaped near this part. I know I will see you again." Before I could ask my mate why he was acting as if he was not going with me, and how we were going to get past the guard, he told

me, "No matter what happens, stay away from me and get away from this heap of human trash. I love you." He broke away from me before I could respond and raced at the guard, who

spun around and yowled, "Under Titan's command you go no – " "Save it for Scourge, you piece of fox-dung!" Smudge roared at the cat, launching himself, claws out, onto him. The startled

tom yowled loudly and threw himself into combat. I saw that the nearest guard post to this one had that guard coming to the battle, and the one on the other side. Soon my mate was

fighting three to one. I forced myself not to watch the blood and fur fly, and did as my beloved mate had instructed me to; snuck past the fight and ran for a free life, and to find you,

Twilight. I did not stop or look back until I was far away, honoring the reason for Smudge's sacrifice. That is how I got here, Twilight, my friend."

* * *

Twilight had thought another memory could not stir her. She'd been wrong. Russet had told her story too well, and fury rose like a tidal wave at Titan and his band of rogues.


End file.
